Minority- and women-owned executive recruitment firms around the country made presentations to Sears, Roebuck and Company on July 15 for Sears’ second vendor diversity fair. More than twenty-five firms met with Sears human resource directors to explore opportunities to increase the representation of minorities and women in Sears senior management. The first diversity fair in […]
According to Thomas B. Doyle, Vice President of Information and Research at the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA), female participation in athletic activities has been increasing and changing dramatically in the last five years. He based his remarks on “Sports Participation in 1996”, a two-page report from a NSGA survey of 35,000 US households. In […]
Janeth Ravner Rosenblaum, the former president of the Washington, D.C. chapter of the League of Women Voters, died on July 15th of lung ailments. Rosenblaum also served on the national board of the League and as acting president of its Overseas Education Fund. Rosenblaum also volunteered for the American Red Cross and the D.C. Board […]
The first world conference on breast cancer has featured an important debate over whether or not women with a breast cancer related gene should have mastectomies. Some argue that because eighty percent of women who carry the gene will have breast cancer, they should have mastectomies. Others argue that mastectomies are an extreme step which […]
United States District Judge Ronald Lagueux has issued an order blocking enforcement of Rhode Island’s partial birth abortion ban. The judge set a hearing for August 4th to determine whether or not the law, as written, is overly broad and thus unconstitutional. The lawsuit, brought by Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island and two doctors, contends […]
Both the United States Senate and House versions of the defense spending bill maintain the ban on abortion at overseas military hospitals. The Senate and House bills authorize $268 billion in military spending. This is $6.6 billion more than President Bill Clinton’s administration requested and $3 billion more than allotted in the 1997 budget.
California Governor Pete Wilson (Rep) signed a bill on July 14th protecting a woman’s right to breast-feed her baby in public. Wilson supported the legislation because nursing promotes maternal and infant bonding and also reduces health care costs for children. Proponents of the measure believe it will lessen the fear of public disapproval which contributes […]
During an address to the “Vital Voices: Women in Democracy” forum held in Vienna, United States First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton urged female leaders in former communist countries to work hard for women’s rights. Clinton addressed over 1,000 prominent women leaders, representing 19 post-communist Eastern European countries, at the conference and urged them to banish […]
In 1995, then eleven year-old Valerie Ambrosie won an essay competition designed to generate a name for the Mars rover. Ambrosie suggested that the rover be named after Sojourner Truth, a famous abolitionist and women’s right advocate. Ambrosie wrote in her essay, chosen from over 3,500 entries, “It’s only logical that the Pathfinder be named […]
Health Minister Ismail Awadallah Salaam announced on July 11, 1997 that the Egyptian health authorities will continue to enforce a ban on female genital mutilation despite a June 24 court ruling against the ban. Salaam’s ministry has filed an appeal with Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court challenging the mid-level administrative court’s decision. Islamic fundamentalists oppose Salaam, […]
By July 15, states must turn in applications for $250 million authorized by Congress for programs that promote abstinence as the only way to prevent teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Planned Parenthood and other groups that support more extensive sex education, however, point out that an “abstinence only” message to teenage students is unrealistic […]
Award-winning poet Adrienne Rich has declined the 1997 National Medal for the Arts. In explaining her decision to the Clinton Administration, Rich commented that “democracy in this country has been in decline.” Rich expressed her views in a letter written to Jane Alexander, chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Arts, which administers the awards. […]
After recent medical indications that the diet drug combination fenfluramine and phentermine (fen-phen) may damage heart valves, diet centers have begun to rethink their prescription of the popular drugs. The findings, by doctors at the Mayo Clinic, have already prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to send warning letters to thousands of doctors. Now, […]
Sports fans who attend UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium on July 12 at 7:00 p.m. will watch skilled baseball players pitch breaking balls, make double plays, and hit grand slams. And these talented athletes will be women. For the first time in about half a century, a professional women’s baseball league is beginning its season. San […]
The Boston Ballet believes 22-year-old Heidi Guenther’s recent death resulted from an eating disorder. The 5’3″ dancer weighed 100 pounds, 15 pounds below normal for her height. Her death emphasizes the obsession many individuals in her profession have with staying thin. Studies reveal that eating disorders among professional dancers are twenty times higher than they […]
U.S. Judge James Jarvis, of the Eastern District of Tennessee, has upheld the constitutionality of the civil rights provision of the federal Violence Against Women Act. The provision makes gender-motivated crime, such as spousal abuse, a civil rights violation. Congress used its power under the interstate commerce clause to pass the legislation. After four months […]
A study headed by Dr. Harriet L. MacMillon of the Centre for Studies of Children At Risk at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario and published in the July 9th, 1997 Journal of the American Medical Association reveals that approximately 1 in 7 females are sexually abused as children. The study also shows that 1 in […]
Jacqueline Addington has been appointed president of Owensboro, Kentucky Community College. Addington, who currently serves as the assistant vice president for academic affairs at Western Kentucky University, will become the first woman to hold the presidency position at the college. With her appointment, three women will serve as presidents in the fourteen-member University of Kentucky […]
Over 300 women have convened in Vienna, Austria for a three-day conference to analyze women’s role in expanding and building democracy in Eastern Europe. U.S. Ambassador to Austria Swanee Hunt welcomed the participants yesterday and in her opening remarks commented, “The voices of women are vitally important for the creation of democracy.” United States First […]
Legal challenges have delayed California’s attempt to deny prenatal services to illegal immigrant women. Because several groups, including pregnant women, private clinics, immigrants rights advocates, and the California Medical Association, are fighting the cutoff in court, the earliest it can be implemented is now Sept. 1, 1997. Plaintiffs argue that Governor Pete Wilson’s administration’s plans […]
